The Sri Lanka national men's cricket team, (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා ජාතික ක්‍රිකට් කණ්ඩායම,Tamil:இலங்கை தேசிய கிரிக்கெட் அணி) nicknamed The Lions, represents Sri Lanka in international cricket. It is a Full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test, One-Day International (ODI) and T20 International (T20I) status.[8] The team first played international cricket (as Ceylon) in 1926–27, and were later awarded Test status in 1982, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket playing nation. The team is administered by Sri Lanka Cricket.
As of 10 July 2018, Sri Lanka have played 272 Test matches; they have won 86 matches, lost 101 matches, and 85 matches were drawn.[21] As of 10 July 2018, Sri Lanka have played 816 ODI matches, winning 376 matches and losing 399; they also tied 5 matches, whilst 36 had no result.[22] As of 10 July 2018, Sri Lanka have played 108 T20I matches and won 54 of them; 52 were lost and 1 tied and 1 no result match as well.[23]
Sri Lanka won their first Test match under the leadership of Duleep Mendis on 11 September 1985 against India, winning by 149 runs at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium.[27] Eventually they won the three-match Test series, 1-0.[28] Sri Lanka had to wait more than seven years for their next series victory, which came against New Zealand in December 1992, when they won the two-match series 1-0.[29] This was immediately followed by a one-wicket victory against England in a one-Test series.[30]
Sri Lanka's national cricket team achieved considerable success beginning in the 1990s, rising from underdog status to winning the Cricket World Cup in 1996. Since then, the team has continued to be a force in international cricket. The Sri Lankan cricket team reached the finals of the 2007 and 2011 Cricket World Cups consecutively. They ended up being runners up on both occasions.[9]
As of July 2018, Sri Lanka have faced nine teams in Test cricket—only recent Test nations Afghanistan and Ireland are missing from their list of opponents—with their most frequent opponent being Pakistan, playing 51 matches against them.[18] Sri Lanka has registered more wins against Pakistan and Bangladesh than any other team, with 14.[18] In ODI matches, Sri Lanka has played against 17 teams; they have played against India most frequently, with a winning percentage of 39.49 in 149 matches.[19] Within usual major ODI nations, Sri Lanka have defeated England on 34 occasions, which is their best record in ODIs.[19] The team have competed against 13 countries in T20Is, and have played 15 matches against New Zealand. Sri Lanka have defeated Australia and West Indies 6 occasions each.[20] Sri Lanka was the best T20I team in the world, where they ranked number one in more than 32 months, and reached World Twenty20 final in three times.